Listen I like the GJJ videos, but honestly - there are a lot of problems with "distance learning" a grappling art.

105 pages of posts - do you really think they're all haters? Or perhaps there are some informed, intelligent opinions both for and against the Gracies and their program.

It was a one post necro threader. Even your very valid points will likely just be lost in the kerfuffle. I know many people that attempted to buy an expensive grappling doll and videos and found themselves completely lost when it came to the opponent actually fighting back. The reality of the situation will soon present itself I'm sure. Have faith in Darwinism.

And, seeing as how the subject of certain, let's just say, less than legitimate, online training "masters" have been much discussed recently, here's a new video about Gracie University.

Yes, it's long. Honestly every single time I watch one of their videos at the end I'm like "man, I should really try out this Gracie University" thing. This feeling fades over time though.

Anyway, what they're saying here, if you don't have 50 minutes, is that, until now, Blue Belt with 4 stripes was the highest rank you could achieve through the online course, And the way this was achieved was you went through a series of moves necessary for your first stripe, then were tested on those moves via video, then your second stripe vids and test, and so on. Apparently there are over 100 techniques per stripe, so they feel it's very difficult and time consuming to get all 4 stripes.

Anyway, that is what has been happening up until now. The new part is adding in purple and above testing. Once you have earned all 4 blue belt stripes, you will submit a request to test for purple belt. This test must be done in person, either with Rener or Ryron, or one of their appointed black belts. Once you have passed the test in person, you will be given the belt, and you will have another series of stripe tests (done online) and so on.

They also say that, for 80% of people out there, it's impossible to learn bjj online without an instructor, but that there are a percentage of people out there who are exceptional, and are able to put in the time and effort required to learn and advance entirely through online training. They also say this is a great source of additional information for people who are training at a gym.

Best part of the whole video comes near the end when Ryron tries to say something for a couple minutes but can't because Rener won't stop talking... The look he gives the camera at one point had me literally laughing out loud. Anyway, anyone have thoughts on this new development?

Honestly I been tainted on Gracie Jiu Jitsu ever since the Schaub incident. I understand the move from “Jiu Jitsu is for fighting” to “Jiu Jitsu is for surviving” as the Grace Jiu Jitsu Trademark. I think its nice that they are doing the anti-bully, self-defense shtick with an effective art at its base. However, I don’t consider a GU blue belt a BJJ blue belt. They can’t compete at that level. The only distance ranking for BJJ I’ve seen done well is 10th planet. 10th planet requires them to have competition wins at their current belt rank.

That’s right I think 10th planet is doing distance ranking better for Jiu Jitsu than Gracie Academy. At the end of the day the GU Blue Belt and now Purple Belt can’t fight, they will become “Masters of the Demo.” Please don't confuse GU (Gracie University) students with people that actually earn their belt at Gracie Academy.

I’ll leave you with Gracie Jiu Jitsu in action. (Green shorts for the confused)

I've rolled with one blue belt who got his blue via GU. He was solid enough. He comes from a wrestling background so he knows how to grapple. GU provided additional information for him, which was combined with training with other folks who trained bjj (not via GU).

Ben Chi - I actually trained with Ben Chi.

The gym wasn't really that bad ass. There's some tough guys in any karate gym, sure. It was an awkward situation after Ben was charged.

Originally Posted by TEA

Punching someone in the face for talking smack is not self-defense. It is criminal assault. Florida is one of the states that has "the castle doctrine," which means that if you are legitimately defending yourself against a criminal assault you are justified in using lethal force. No second guessing about what level of force is justified. Again, though, punching someone for talking smack is not self-defense.

I lived in Hawai'i during the Ben Chi incident. Ben Chi was an assistant instructor at a TKD school in Honolulu that had a reputation for training street fighters, Korean gangsters and wanna-be Korean gangsters. Some big high school football player started talking smack to Ben Chi in line at a Zippy's (local fast food chain), Ben Chi chased him into the parking lot, sided kicked the kid in the chest just under the left lower pectoral (check your handy dandy Kung-fu/Karate pressure points chart), stopped the kids heart and the kid died. The DA initially charged Ben Chi with manslaughter but upped the charges to murder when he did enough research to find that most KMA schools teach this as a possible lethal technique. All BS aside from the actual possibility of killing people on any consistent basis with this technique, the fact that the potential lethality of the technique is part of the curriculum was enough to pressure Ben Chi to plead guilty to manslaughter on a plea deal.

Morals of the story:

Street fighting and self-defense have very different legal repurcussions

I rolled with my first GU blue belt a few weeks ago. I'm a 3-stripe Blue belt (and not a very good one). There were two of them who came in to check out our class, because we are really cheap and GU is not. Anyways, they were horrible. I would have put their skill level at about 1-stripe white belt level. Its very clear to me that when people didn't follow the grapple-kata, they had no idea what to do. No sense of dealing with pressure or creating space.

Rener and Ryron have some great instructional stuff out there, but no video is going to teach you how it feels to have a black belt mount you and steal your soul.

I rolled with my first GU blue belt a few weeks ago. I'm a 3-stripe Blue belt (and not a very good one). There were two of them who came in to check out our class, because we are really cheap and GU is not. Anyways, they were horrible. I would have put their skill level at about 1-stripe white belt level. Its very clear to me that when people didn't follow the grapple-kata

I agree they need to FOCUS and work that grapple-kata till it is second nature. They just don't take the material seriously enough dude.

Originally Posted by ghost55

Violence is pretty uncommon in clubs in this area, and the dude didn't seem particularly hostile up until the moment he slapped me.

“I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out.”
BILL HICKS,
1961-1994

Originally Posted by WFMurphyPhD

Slamming the man in the bottom position from time to time keeps everybody on their toes and discourages butt scooting stupidity.